Chapter 708

Chapter 708

The glowing [166] flashes by my eyes as the Goblin King's hand, almost the size of my entire body, misses me by less than a meter and grabs its massive battle axe resting in the ground of black stones.

It shimmers with green divine energy and pulses with white Ether once the Lord picks it up and turns my way, yelling again.

"Answer me, human! You're not permitted to be in this Zone! It shouldn't even be possible."

The massive battle axe, with its blade easily twice as tall as myself, is pointed my way as the monster awaits a response.

My gaze moves around to see all the goblins knocked out cold by its aura, and even Ava is struggling to stand to her feet about 20 meters away.

The Goblin King's axe glows brighter, and it yells out again.

"I command you to speak now. A 2nd Class Lord has asked you a question. Why are you here...?"

I stay silent for another full second, remembering how unreasonable this Lord was with Ava. I doubt any words I say will diffuse this mess.

Instead, I focus on summoning Ether around my arms and legs to increase my speed and attack power.

My decision is soon proven to be the correct one, as the Goblin King doesn't wait for a response and lunges forward.

"You know what? You're dead. Whatever Lord sent you here knows the consequences of unauthorized visits. I was in the middle of something here, and you've ruined my fun."

Its speed is impressive.

Just like when it lunged forward to grab its axe before, my eyes can barely catch up; and even as I kick off the ground with Ether to dodge, it's clear even my reflexes aren't enough to deal with raw power.

Before I even move half a meter off the ground, the white axe collides with my chest.

An absurdly loud twang echoes through the Zone, and if not for my purple barrier, that attack would have split any human in my place in two.

All physical divine energy and mana-infused damage has been deflected, but my entire body shines bright with Ether as I'm sent flying backward toward the rock pile I was hiding behind before interfering in this duel.

Ava's worried eyes watching me fly, and the angered Goblin King chasing after me, is all I see as my body is overwhelmed by tingling that turns into pins and needles, soon feeling as though my very essence is being boiled in a sea of Ether.

My whole body vibrates, and it feels as though my very soul is being attacked.

After days' worth of sparring matches, my instincts kick in to begin the healing process, but it is like trying to build a dam brick by brick while an entire river is flowing through.

The boiling sensations all over seem to only get stronger and stronger until my back hits the pile of rocks over a hundred meters away.

The only thing left that I can feel is a small pocket of space in my mind, shielded with a dense subconscious aura, and it is the only reason I'm able to still feel my body and visualize what's going on.

Again, in this moment, I feel as though I'm brought back in time to the mind trial within the tower, and years of experience flow into my mind, remembering how I slowly processed Ether for what seemed to be an eternity.

I gasp for breath once I fall to the ground in front of the rock pile, and a ripple of understanding washes over me from the epicenter of my unaltered mind. It enhances the healing properties of my body on autopilot, but I still feel as though I've only touched the surface of what lies dormant in my consciousness.

The boiling in my body stops getting hotter, but it hasn't begun reversing its effects yet.

Through the pain and confusion, I still raise my hands to face the incoming axe striking my side.

"Not bad! That avatar of yours is still in one piece! No wonder they let a human exile this close to the citadel, you must be a special one!" is all I hear as I'm sent flying in another random direction.

The sensation of my body being filled with boiling Ether returns, and I didn't believe it would be possible, but it is even worse than the first time.

I let out a verbal yell to give myself a false sense of pain relief while slamming into another pile of black stones.

The pocket of guarded mental space pulses again, and as I fall to my face on the black rock ground, losing feeling in my body, I feel my ability to heal and summon Ether increase drastically again.

As the heavy footsteps of the Goblin King approach, I lift my head and begin pushing myself out of the ground, laughing as slight feeling in my appendages begins to return.

The strength gap between us is unfathomably larger than I thought it would be. However, no matter how hard I'm hit, this monster cannot hurt me; this is what is so funny.

Its voice echoes out as I'm hit right in the chest again by its axe with an uppercut swing before I can even fully lift myself off the ground.

I feel another wave of boiling hot Ether coat through me, and I'm sent flying up into the air.

However, before I even begin my descent, another ripple of understanding is violently rattled out of my subconscious mind, and my arms and legs regain feeling even before I hit the ground back in the center of the goblins' mining base.

I'm already on my feet by the time I see the Goblin King's outline and glowing white axe approaching through the green divine fog.

Ava has made her way back to her hammer nearby, and seeing her face again reminds me of something she said to me during our spars after I managed to land a hit on her.

She said that the punch I hit her with was infused with some kind of mental attack.

I was completely unaware of what I was doing then, and as I see the Goblin King ready to swing its axe my way again, I feel as though I still don't fully understand it.

However, there is certainly something unique happening in the depths of my mind every time I'm hit. Even though I can't fully understand it, I can attempt to tap into it.

As the glowing axe comes my way, I don't try to dodge, run, or create a barrier to limit the force of the strike.

I use all of my mental capacity to cover my right fist in Ether and punch against the sharp side of the axe coming down on me.

For a moment, we're stopped in place.

Deep down, I have a theory brewing in the back of my mind, but I want to comfort Ava before testing it.

She gulps and just nods. "Right... I can't protect my world if I'm dead... I can find another way."

Then, I grin and walk over to the massive green avatar that lies with eyes wide open and a blank mind.

Before thinking any further, I begin punching its chest with everything I've got.

My divine energy, demon core, and soul energy core's power is locked away behind my purple barrier that is saving me from the pressure.

All I can do is strike this monster with pure Ether.

Ava looks away as I pummel the Goblin King over and over, sending mental attacks deep into his already fractured psyche, breaking it more and more with every punch.

My physical attacks begin causing some damage as well, tearing through the thick, realistic flesh of this monster's avatar and digging deep into its chest to find its Green Divine True Core cycling energy.

As I punch against it, loud twangs and vibrations of rock moving below us echo out, and I can feel my fist creating microfractures and disruptions in the fully unguarded divine core in front of me.

Minutes pass as I massacre this creature, making soup out of its mind and shattering its divine core.

The moment I land the final hit, I watch the green threads that have been cycling in its chest move toward me, clump up around my fist, then cover my arm, and eventually surround my entire body.

Even the Ether within this being starts to flow out of its broken mind and toward me. This isn't stopped by the purple barrier, however; it flows in with ease, making my Ether stores fill with far more than I had before.

At this feeling, I can tell this being is really dead, and the energy that is surrounding me, exerting extreme pressure on my barrier, is all of the excess divine energy that my True Core's absorption ability is trying to consume.

In the past, the energy from beings I've killed floods into my core without the need to be processed. It automatically integrates... The only problem will be opening up my barrier.

Even if I gain more divine threads, I'm still going to be exposed to this immense pressure.

I turn back to Ava, whose eyes are even wider at the sight before her, and I follow her gaze down to the corpse's world token, which now states zero.

In the same moment, I mentally trigger my divine barrier to open, and for all of the dense energy around me to force itself in.

I feel an overwhelming burst of both satisfying new power entering my core and also the weight of the green clouds seeping into me again, tearing through my flesh and body instantly, forcing me to fall to my knees.

However, I catch a glimpse of my own palm and see [167] in bright green text as a stream of notifications ring in my ears, two of which float to the forefront of my mind.

___________

[Congratulations! Rising Emperor's Domain Milestone Reached!]

[167/5 Worlds Claimed]

[New Perk Unlocked: World Collector]

Info:

All Generals may now borrow an additional 1% of stats.

Additional one time daily use Permanent Buffs for all links of loyalty have been granted [i].

The Rising Emperor may now borrow an additional 5% of all Base Stat Points and Mana Control efficiency from all subordinates under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor.

The caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.

Members affected by this perk are not required to be within range of the Rising Emperor's Domain.

This buff stacks with the [World Domination] perk, [Imperial Reach] perk, [Expansion] perk, [Dominance] perk, [Authority] perk, [Power Holder] perk, and [Ruler's Gaze] perk if used simultaneously.

___________

[Congratulations! Rising Emperor's Domain Milestone Reached!]

[167/100 Worlds Claimed]

[New Perk Unlocked: Ruler of Worlds]

Info:

[World Wide Connectivity System Interface][i] Update! All Worlds under the Rising Emperor's rule may now access additional perks.

All Lords that pledge loyalty to the Rising Emperor will become Co-Owners of all worlds under their control. The Rising Emperor has superiority over the base stats of their citizens.

The Rising Emperor may now borrow an additional 5% of all Base Stat Points and Mana Control efficiency from all subordinates under the allegiance of the Rising Emperor.

The caster may only borrow or share exclusively; both actions cannot be performed simultaneously.

Members affected by this perk are not required to be within range of the Rising Emperor's Domain.

This buff stacks with the [World Collector] perk, [World Domination] perk, [Imperial Reach] perk, [Expansion] perk, [Dominance] perk, [Authority] perk, [Power Holder] perk, and [Ruler's Gaze] perk if used simultaneously.